Old Lady Who Has Been Saving Money for 40 Years Discovers Her Bank Account Empty One Day – Story of the Day

Dorothy was an extremely frugal woman, and her savings were terrific by the time she turned 80. She had reached her goal and wanted to surprise her son. But one day, she went to the bank to make a final deposit and discovered her money was gone. Then the bank told her something shocking.

Mrs. Dorothy Seagal went to the bank to deposit a final check into her substantial account. For the past 40 years, she had been saving everything she could as she got hired for a relatively high-paying job. Sometimes, she lived so frugally that her son, Andrew, would get mad he didn't have everything he ever wanted. But Dorothy bought him everything he needed and saved everything else despite his many requests as a kid.

Her contributions reduced when she retired at 65, but she was still consistent because she had a goal in mind. Funerals could be expensive, and the future was so uncertain. It was better to save all she could while she could.

Dorothy had no idea what he was saying. "But how did the money get out?"

At 80 years old, she had finally reached her final goal. It was a significant amount of money, which she decided to give to Andrew immediately. She had enough to pay for her funeral when the time came, which should amount to a fraction of those savings, and he could do anything he wanted with the rest. She hoped he would understand now why she had been so frugal.

At the bank, she showed her I.D. to the teller before inquiring about her balance. She wanted to know how much she had in her account before depositing her check to be sure. But the teller had something shocking to say.

"Mrs. Seagal, it looks like there is nothing in your account. There's zero dollars here," the kind lady attending to her revealed.

"What? That's impossible. Are you sure you're looking into the right account? Can you check again?" Dorothy requested, her hands trembling a bit from nervousness.

"I'm sorry. I'm looking at the right account. There's nothing here. I'm surprised it wasn't closed completely," the lady stated again.

Dorothy started hyperventilating on the spot and shaking her head rapidly back and forth. This couldn't be happening. All her hard work was gone. The teller called for help, and the security guard grabbed a chair for her to sit on.

"Ma'am, please calm down. I'm getting the manager, and we'll get to the bottom of this," she assured Dorothy, who nodded in thanks.

She calmed down slowly while waiting, and the manager called her to his office. He had something important to say.

"Mrs. Seagal. There seemed to be an error in your account. But don't worry, we're going to fix it soon," the bank manager started, typing away on his computer.

Dorothy had no idea what he was saying. "But how did the money get out?" She was always so careful with her money. It didn't make sense, and she couldn't believe what was happening to her at that moment. Should she have spent the money instead of saving it? Should she have picked another bank? Was this karma for something she had done in the past?

Standing right beside her manager, the bank teller answered, "It's most likely a system error, Mrs. Seagal. But your money is right there, I assure you."

The bank manager continued typing away and suddenly exclaimed. "Aha! I found it. Mrs. Seagal, the money has been accidentally deposited into someone else's account for years. Another person named Dorothy Seagal. But you have your checkbooks dating back years, which prove what amount is yours. We're going to fix everything soon."

Dorothy smiled now that the error had been found and waited for them to fix things. The faces of the bank employees reassured her that everything would be alright, and her money would end up right where it needed to be. But she never wanted to go through something like that again. At her age, she might not be able to handle another huge scared like that, so she made a decision.

Eventually, they told her to expect the money back within a few days, and she also called Andrew, who picked her up because she wasn't sure she could walk home after that fright. She had to tell him everything, and he found it unbelievable.

A couple of days later, her money was back, and she closed her account immediately, giving everything to her son, who was incredibly grateful about it. He finally understood why she never indulged his whims as a kid.

What can we learn from this story?

• It's best not to panic in uncertain situations. Institutions have a way of protecting your money and getting it back if something happens. Wait for an explanation and everything will work out.
• Saving for the future is always admirable. Dorothy had a goal in mind and wanted to save as much as she could for the future. She achieved it and surprised her son.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about an orphan boy who stole an envelope full of money from an older man.

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